Brownfield success is about people. Localities most successful in brownfield revitalization have set up
brownfield teams that include prominent local leaders, a brownfield staff champion, and a cross-sector
team of public and private supporters. The use of a well rounded local government team for
brownfields can help the prospective end-users of these sites overcome the tough barriers to
brownfield redevelopment. A local brownfield team can also bring together the cross-disciplinary
skills necessary to address these complex environmental, economic and social challenges. In addition,
the establishment of the right team helps ensure that the community's brownfield initiatives are
sustained beyond the expiration of EPA brownfield grant funding or other start-up funding that
launched these programs. A local brownfield team should include the following.
Leadership from Top Local Officials
Whether from the Mayor, City Council, City Manager, County Supervisor or a top agency official, the
nation's top brownfields programs all receive leadership from high-ranking local officials. These officials
are essential to providing the vision, building the community support, developing the partnerships, and
obtaining the resources needed for a successful program. They also bring the private sector to the
table, lobby for funding, testify in Congress, and speak at conferences to demonstrate their leadership.
For example:
-Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has committed more than $70 million to establish an
aggressive local program that acquires and prepares brownfields properties for commercial
and industrial redevelopment.
-Tom Suozzi, the former Mayor of Glen Cove, New York who was recently elected as
County Executive for Nassau County, made the revitalization of the brownfields on Glen
Cove's waterfront his top community priority. He is now implementing an ambitious
brownfields program for the entire County.
-Mayor Dan Malloy of Stamford, Connecticut has made the revitalization of his City's Mill
River Corridor his top economic development priority. By becoming a national spokesman
on brownfields, Mayor Malloy has leveraged more than $50 million in state and federal
funding for land acquisition, transportation, affordable housing, greenway development,
and other priorities that are components of his revitalization plans.
Interagency Team
Most successful brownfield programs have established local interagency teams, which serve several
valuable functions. Different agencies bring the different skills and areas of expertise required for
revitalization. By having all of the relevant agencies involved, the locality can create greater
predictability in the development process and thereby enhance its credibility with the private sector.
Moreover, the participation of multiple agencies provides a variety of entry points for property owners
and developers interested in redeveloping brownfields. There are a number of different models for
interagency teams, but virtually all have participation from at least the Mayor's office and the economic
development, environmental, planning, finance, and legal departments. Many also include the local
parks, public works, public health, housing, buildings and transportation departments. For example:
In Chicago, the Mayor's Office has a point person who helps coordinate a team of senior
officials from the departments of Planning and Development, Environment, Management and
Budget (OMB) and Law. Planning and Development takes the lead in identifying the priority
sites and negotiating the deals. Environment makes sure sites are properly assessed and cleaned
up. OMB helps identify and secure funding. Law makes sure the deals can happen. In addition,
the departments of Transportation and Buildings are often involved, depending on the specific
project.
The City Manager's office in Phoenix, Arizona established an interdepartmental Brownfields
Task Force, consisting of representatives from nine city departments, to develop a formal
program to encourage brownfields redevelopment by the private sector in Phoenix. City
Council also unanimously approved establishment of the program with funding from the City's
general funds and bond budgets.
Lawrence, Massachusetts tackled this problem by establishing two interagency task forces —
teams comprised of local, state, and federal representatives — that ironed out key issues,
facilitated decision making, and coordinated the multiple regulatory issues connected with
brownfields projects.
This interagency approach is key to brownfields success, because bureaucracy at the local level can kill
brownfields projects. Many brownfield projects are burdened by high assessment and remediation
costs and by long, drawn-out time frames — a situation that is only exacerbated when multiple
government agencies are involved. An interagency team can promote one-stop-shopping for
brownfields parties to help avoid these brownfields barriers.
It is important to emphasize that interagency coordination can yield important benefits that don't
require any cash outlay by the city. In several cases, streamlining interagency coordination was critical
in resolving overlaps in administrative jurisdictions and oversight. It saved the city staff resources, and
the developer valuable time. Cities like Dallas, Texas and Detroit, Michigan have used a brownfield
"SWAT Team" approach, pulling people from different departments like planning and public works into
a single brownfield unit. They can quickly deal with all types of situations that can come up in a
brownfield reuse project. Moreover, this kind of approach has been replicated in small cities, like in the
Southwest Municipal Conference consortium in Cook County, Illinois. There, officials from several
communities have joined forces to identify experts from within the different cities, the county, and
from around the state who they can call in when specific brownfield situations arise.
Local Brownfield Staff
Most successful programs devote some local staff to implementing their brownfields programs. Many,
like Kansas City, Missouri; Phoenix, Arizona; and Nashville, Tennessee have at least one full time point
person (usually a "Brownfield Program Manager" or "Brownfield Coordinator") assigned to spend all
of their time and energy leading and coordinating the effort. Others, like Chicago, Illinois have several
staff that are part of the brownfields team, and each devotes substantial time to brownfields projects.
Dedicated brownfields staff can also help overcome a common problem for most localities, namely,
that no single office or entity is responsible for overseeing brownfields projects. Instead, myriad players
from a range of departments must be coordinated, creating an administrative nightmare. All agree that
establishing a single entity for oversight of brownfield initiatives is key. The Worcester Redevelopment
Authority (WRA) in Worcester, Massachusetts is an example of such a framework. The WRA acquires
properties, coordinates remediation, and facilitates site redevelopment work — acting as a
"brownfields broker." Similarly, the Port of Seattle assembled under one lead manager a group of staff
members who were dedicated to the Southwest Harbor redevelopment project. This team, which
worked out of one office location, included members of the port's marine facilities as well as staff from
legal, engineering, environmental, and finance offices.
Small and rural communities that may not have the resources to dedicate local staff to brownfields can
explore collaborative approaches with other communities. For instance, a number of small
communities could join together to hire expert staff assistance to work with all of the participating
towns. Such staff could also be funded through regional planning and economic development agencies.
For example, in the Asheville, North Carolina area, the Land-of-Sky Regional Council used EPA,
Economic Development Administration, Appalachian Regional Commission, and other funding to
organize a regional plan to revitalize brownfields and spark economic development across a region that
includes four counties and 15 cities and towns. Four specific brownfield redevelopment projects are
already underway since the effort began in 1998.
Technical Expertise
The best local brownfields teams will make use of people with technical expertise in brownfields issues.
With local technical expertise in assessment, cleanup, redevelopment planning, funding, permitting and
other key issues, a community can facilitate both public and private sector revitalization. This approach
can save time, money and uncertainty for the parties involved in a brownfields project. In larger
localities with greater resources and a number of brownfields projects, this expertise can be brought in
house onto the local staff. In smaller communities or areas with a more limited number of brownfields,
the locality can contract technical expertise with experience in local brownfields revitalization (and,
this could potentially be funded by EPA assessment grants). In some regions, localities have joined
together to fund and share technical personnel who can then act as "brownfield circuit riders" among
various communities. See, e.g. the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, Environmental Circuit
Riders program at www.citiesandtowns.org/content/member_resources/environment_DHT.htm.
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